Aria 4.8

April 19h, 2011

Previously on Nightingale: Even if the hostages are E88 gang members, could we really sit by and do nothing if the ABB were going to execute them? We waited tensely for the next few minutes, until we heard a distinctive pop that sounded like a gunshot.

"Shit, we're not waiting any longer. We're going in!" Lady Photon barked over the radio.


New Wave was a well-oiled fighting machine. That shouldn't have been a surprise. The group had been around for years, and had fought their fair share of battles. From what Vicky had told me, the group had mostly scaled back their patrolling and crime fighting lately, but it seemed like the current gang war had pulled the group out of their quasi-retirement.

I, on the other hand, was still a relative newcomer to the cape scene. I had only had my powers for a few months, and had only really been involved in two cape fights. I didn't have the training or experience that the other capes here had, so I wasn't really surprised when Lady Photon had asked me if I wanted to wait with Panacea in the safety of the New Wave van nearby. A little hurt maybe, but not surprised. I couldn't just sit around and wait though while my friends risked their lives, so I politely declined Lady Photon's offer. She did ask me to play it safe though. My role would be just to hang back, use my energy blasts from a distance, and heal when needed.

Ordinarily, this should have been a cakewalk. Four ABB capes without Lung and a handful of non-powered soldiers versus all seven combat New Wave capes, plus Mistblade and myself? With just our numerical advantage, we were counting on a quick and decisive victory before Lung had a chance to arrive. However, we had to account for the ABB's newest addition: the bomb tinker Bakuda. Since anybody there could be armed with a lethal ordinance that could bypass brute ratings, we had to play it safe. Better to let a few criminals escape than lose a family member.

As soon as Lady Photon had given the order to engage, the four of us on the roof exploded into action. The tankier members of New Wave were going to hit the warehouse from the other side, and I flew into the air with Laserdream and Glory Girl. Glory Girl had picked up Mistblade briefly and dropped her right off on the building adjacent to the warehouse we were attacking.

"One doorbuster, coming up!" Glory Girl exclaimed, with a rather forced cheerfulness.

Laserdream let loose a series of laser blasts that crumpled the outer wall of the warehouse a bit, setting up Glory Girl to finish the job when she rammed straight into the wall with the force of a runaway train, and tore down a large section of the wall. A bit of property damage appeared to be unavoidable. I winced a little at the display of wanton destruction, but at least I had enough money to pay for the property damage if it came to that. I could hear some cries of alarm as bricks and debris showered the gang members inside, but they had bigger problems to worry about as they were assaulted by the rest of New Wave from the other side.

I couldn't see the scene too clearly from my vantage point in the air due to the dust from the debris, but I assumed they must have used a combination of Manpower and Lady Photon's powers to quickly demolish the far side wall. Flashbang was doing a good job of keeping the unpowered gang members disabled with his concussive blasts. From what Vicky had told me, although her dad was mostly known for his ability to create orbs that effectively functioned as flashbang grenades, it was less widely known that Flashbang's power could also create far deadlier explosive blasts. Luckily for the ABB thugs below, Flashbang was restricting his power to nonlethal concussive blasts. I could hear screams and a smattering of gunfire, and I could see Shielder and Lady Photon were busy keeping the ABB capes off of them with their laser blasts and shields. Regular ammunition would have little effect against the duo.

With a clear line of sight into the building now, Laserdream and I began launching our energy beams into the building and began pelting the inhabitants inside. Within seconds, most of the unpowered thugs were down and either unconscious or writhing in pain.

Unlike most TV shows or movies that were popular these days, real cape fights rarely lasted more than a few minutes. Most capes could hit a lot harder than what they could take. Mistblade (and myself I suppose) was a good example of that. Her power was absolutely deadly, yet she was almost as fragile as any regular teenage girl. The only fights that tended to drag on longer than a few minutes were usually between capes that had similar brute ratings. The best defense was usually a good offense, and we had just sucker punched the ABB hard. It almost seemed unfair, except we were facing off against criminal scum, so who cared about fighting fair.

Despite our heavy bombardment, the ABB capes seemed to have been able to defend themselves against the initial onslaught. Oni Lee could teleport of course, and judging from a number of loud bangs I was hearing, was already using his grenades. I could only hope that our conjecture that Oni Lee couldn't duplicate Bakuda's tinkertech bombs was true. Shikigami had retreated into a multicolored cocoon of confetti, and was now launching tendrils of confetti at the bunkered down group of New Wave capes. Shielder was hopefully keeping everyone over there safe from the ABB counterattack.

Mistblade unfurled the compound bow that I had lent her, and quickly fired off an arrow at Shikigami. A flash of colored paper coalesced in front of Shikigami to intercept the projectile, but the arrow pierced right through without any loss of velocity. Mistblade must have used her power on the arrow, since I had heard that Shikigami's shields could stop easily stop bullets and had fended off several of my energy blasts. The arrow struck true on the little ABB villain's chest, and for a split second I feared that Mistblade had actually killed her before I realized that Shikigami was convulsing from the electrical discharge of the shock arrow. The confetti cloud she was riding on collapsed, and Shikigami dropped like a rock, falling over a dozen feet or so before landing with a loud thud. Yikes, I don't think legs are supposed to be bend like that. At least I could heal her up after we get her in custody. Sure she was a villain, but if she was as young as we suspected she was, it was highly unlikely that she had any choice in joining up with the ABB.

Kazan had already erupted into his changer form, and molten lava was now dripping off him as he was slugging it out with Manpower. He was quite the sight to behold really. No traces of skin or human features adorned his face anymore, as his transformation had left him looking like a moving, semi-liquid statue made of lava… actually, he kind of looked like a bright red Gumby. And what the heck happened to his clothes? Does his costume just melt off every time he changes, and he has to get a new one?

Ronin must have realized that their position was indefensible, as he moved in a blur and quickly scooped up Shikigami's tiny body. He wasn't as fast as Velocity or anything, but he must have a minor mover rating based on how fast he was moving. It looked like he was getting ready to retreat, or at least was moving the little cape to a safer position.

"Nightingale, watch out!" Laserdream yelled at me.

I whirled around in mid-air just in time to see Oni Lee with his demonic face mask, pointing a gun at me. And then my world exploded into pain. The gunshot must have knocked my flight out, because the next thing I knew I was falling. Luckily I was hovering above the roof of the building next to the ABB warehouse instead of directly over the ground, and only plummeted a relatively short distance before I landed painfully on my side. Ugh. Oni Lee must have hit me in the chest, because I could barely breathe. Broken ribs? The ballistic impact gel that made up my armor padding was supposed to distribute force better than a regular bullet-proof vest, but even so it still hurt more than I thought humanly possible. Oh my god. I just got shot! By a gun!

"Are you alright?" Glory Girl asked. When did she land next to me? "Can you heal yourself?"

I struggled weakly to sit up before giving up, and decided to just try healing myself while I was lying down. The familiar tingle of my healing energy soon swept over my body, and I sighed in relief as my breath returned to me. I kept the healing energy flowing until all the pain receded.

"Where did Oni Lee go?" I asked, as I beckoned for Glory Girl to give me a hand.

Glory Girl helped me to my feet and shrugged. "Laserdream blasted him, and he disappeared into ash. He went back inside I think."

"Uhh… is that?" I asked, pointing towards a blur that was running away from us on two rooftops away.

Glory Girl turned and stared at what I was pointing at. "Shit, that's Ronin, and he's got Shikigami. They can handle things here. Let's get him! Come on!"

Glory Girl flew on ahead of me, and with a quick refresh of my flight power, I took off into the air after her. Ronin was dressed up like a… ninja? I didn't know if that was the accurate way to describe his outfit. He was wearing a red and black bodysuit with a matching hood, with four swords strapped across his back in a crisscross pattern. I had asked Lily why carry four swords, and she had smirked when she said that not everyone gets invincible vorpal swords. Apparently his brute rating was high enough that he frequently broke the blades of the swords on his enemies. Two abnormally large guns were strapped to Ronin's thighs. I think Lily said they were Desert Eagles or something like that. It didn't really mean much to me, but I think I was supposed to be impressed. They were certainly big and shiny. I could only hope that my armor was up to the task of protecting me if he did manage to land a hit on me with that.

He sprinted across the rooftop with impressive speed, and easily cleared the gap between the buildings using powerful leaps. With Shikigami's body slung over his shoulder, I couldn't really blast him without risking hitting the little unconscious girl, and that wasn't a risk I was willing to take. Instead, I tried casting my sleep spell on him… which he completely ignored. Damn, I didn't really expect it to work, but it was still disappointing. Ronin on the other hand, had no reservations about shooting back at us. The crack from his pistol was deafening as I swerved back a little and let him gain some distance. Getting shot one time tonight had been more than enough, and I had no desire to repeat that experience anytime soon.

Glory Girl didn't share my reservations about getting shot though, and with an extra burst of speed, overtook Ronin and landed with a roof-cracking ferocity in front of him as he skidded to a halt. Before Glory Girl could advance on him, Ronin shifted Shikigami's body until she was in between the two of them. What kind of grown man uses a little girl as a body shield? Glory Girl took another step forward while I prepared to launch an energy blast at his now unprotected back. Ronin quickly brought one of his large pistols up and held it to Shikigami's head in response. What the hell?

"You're bluffing!" Glory Girl scoffed at him as she crossed her arms. "Like I'd believe you'd shoot your own teammate. Just give up already." The blaring of sirens that sounded like they were approaching us served to underscore Glory Girl's message.

Ronin kept silent, and instead glanced sideways and down the edge of the building we were on. We were about three stories up.

"Don't you dare!" I hissed at him. Sure he was a villain, but he wouldn't…

He glanced back at us, shrugged, and then tossed the girl he was holding right off the side of the building. What an asshole! Glory Girl and I both dived for her, but she easily beat me to Shikigami considering she was both closer and faster than me. She grabbed Shikigami effortlessly with a couple of feet to spare before landing on solid ground, and waited for me to catch up. When I reached her, Glory Girl unceremoniously shoved the small girl into my arms, almost causing me to tip over from the extra weight as I rushed to set her down. Shikigami was small, but it's not like I could carry around nearly a hundred pounds very easily. Damn my twig like arms.

"Take care of her," Glory Girl said. "I'm going after him." With that said, she took off into the air again, leaving me to deal with the pint sized villainess.

Shikigami was wheezing a bit, but she didn't look like she was too badly injured, besides the broken leg. She groaned a little, and it looked like she was regaining consciousness. I guess getting thrown off of a building will do that to you. I could clearly tell she was in pain. Well, nobody could say I wasn't a charitable person, so I decided to give her a little bit of healing. I didn't want to risk her attacking me even though I couldn't really see any of her paper weapons around, so a quick cast of my sleep spell rendered her unconscious first.

Glory Girl returned a few minutes later, and she dropped down to where I was waiting with an annoyed expression on her face.

"He got away?" I asked, already somewhat certain of the response I was going to get.

"Yeah, he ditched the rooftops as soon as we went to grab the girl." Glory Girl huffed. "Honestly, that's no way to treat a teammate. I would never throw you off a roof, Nightingale."

I immediately thought back to her suggestions on how to unlock a flying power for me before I gained my flight, and began doubting her solemn declaration. Glory Girl picked up Shikigami gingergly, and we started flying back towards where we left the rest of New Wave and Mistblade. The PRT had arrived while Glory Girl and I were chasing Ronin, and I saw Velocity and Dauntless too as we approached. Heh, what a tired cliché. The Protectorate heroes showing up a day late and a dollar short. The government-sanctioned law enforcement personnel were rounding up the incapacitated ABB gang members. Lady Photon and Brandish were speaking with a PRT officer and presumably giving a statement on what had happened tonight.

"I'm going to go drop off the girl and check on my family," Glory Girl said to me as she hovered towards the mass of PRT officers and vans.

I spotted Mistblade hanging back a bit from the crowd by herself, and decided to join her so we could be loners together.

"Are you guys alright?" Mistblade asked as I approached her.

"Yeah, we're fine. Are you OK?" She looked like she was in worse shape than we were. Her armor was cracked at her right shoulder, and there were numerous scuffs on her costume.

"Ah, yeah. Took a bullet to my shoulder. The armor caught it, but there might be a bone fracture under it. Can you take a look at it?" Mistblade replied nonchalantly. She seemed pretty unaffected by it, so either she was tougher than I gave her credit for, or she was doing a great job of hiding it. Either way, it made me feel like a bit of a wuss over my reaction to getting shot earlier. I was nearing the limits of my available energy pool, but I reached out and gingerly pushed one of my healing spells into her. The familiar glow of my spell briefly illuminated my hand before it dissipated. Mistblade sighed in relief as she gave her right arm a few experimental stretches. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"No problem. How many did we get?" I asked.

"We got Kazan, but Oni Lee got away," Mistblade responded. "I guess that's not too surprising. It was always going to be hard to pin him down due to his teleportation. Looks like Ronin got away too, but we still caught two of their capes as well as a dozen of their unpowered gang members. Half a dozen of them were up for promotion, so they weren't just grunts. They were members with at least some importance to the gang. We struck a big blow against the ABB tonight."

I swelled a bit with pride upon hearing her words. I know it was kind of a stupid risk to come out here when I probably wasn't even needed, but it felt good to actually be making a difference even if it had been a fairly easy fight. "What's going to happen to her?" I asked, looking over at Shikigami as she was getting loaded into a PRT van.

"Hmm, well if she's as young as suspected, the PRT will probably try to terminate her parent's parental rights and gain custody, and then try to force her into the Wards somewhere," Mistblade responded.

"They recruit villains often?" I could understand the rationale, even if I didn't really like it. In the fight against crime and decay, a villain converted to hero was a bigger win than a villain behind bars when you considered the numbers.

"Sure," she nodded. "Happens pretty often. It's all about how you sell it. If your powers are generic enough, a name and costume change in a different city is pretty much all it takes. Shikigami's powers are pretty unique though, so they'll probably play up her young age and spin the narrative to make her seem like a victim instead of a villain. They'll likely move her to a different city though."

"Seems kind of callous, moving a kid away like that," I murmured. It made sense though. No matter how young she is or how much of a victim she was, there would still be people in Brockton Bay who would hold her past crimes against her.

Mistblade shrugged in response. "Once they have custody over her, it's pretty easy to justify. I was never a villain, and the PRT moved me to New York from Chicago."

"Well at least you get to be in Brockton Bay now, the jewel of the North East," I said jokingly. Mistblade chuckled, and though I couldn't be sure because of her visor, I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes at me.

"You have something there," Mistblade said, pointing to my chest.

"Huh?" I looked down. My costume was damaged from where the bullet had hit me. I could only hope that Parian could fix it without having to make me a completely new dress.

Mistblade reached forward and plucked something shiny out of my costume, before dropping it into my hand. "Here, a souvenir."

I held the bullet up and examined it. The once spherical object had been deformed and flattened significantly by the impact, but it hadn't been able to penetrate the relatively thin padding of my dress. What a grim reminder of mortality. I made a mental note to thank Parian later. "Thanks, I'll keep it in my scrapbook. Every girl always treasures the first time they get hit by a bullet."


April 21st, 2011

School had been interesting the last two days. Our takedown of the ABB had finally hit the front page of the local newspapers and had made the evening news last night, and it was all everyone talked about at school today. Vicky and I were both giddy with excitement over what we accomplished, except unlike Vicky, I couldn't show it at school. Having a secret identity could be a chore to maintain sometimes.

Of course, Vicky and Eric had been the center of attention (even more than usual) at Arcadia the last few days, and Vicky had happily recounted the events to her many fans. Interestingly, each time she told the story, she seemed to add a few... embellishments. By the end of the school day, she had apparently saved Nightingale's life by shielding her from a hail of gunfire, and had single-handedly punched Kazan into submission. I was pretty sure some of those embellishments was just her way of teasing me, and not because she was a narcissistic egomaniac.

The PHO boards were going wild over what was happening, and it was nice to just bask in the glory of success for once. Deep down though, I knew that there was still a lot more work to be done. With the ABB's firepower severely depleted, it was only a matter of time before the Empire would make a strong push, and the Merchants were still there to take advantage of all the chaos. I was itching to go out on patrol again, but I was taking a temporary break from it since my costume was in the shop to repair the damage from the ABB fight. I also took the opportunity to ask Parian to make me another backup costume so I wouldn't be unprepared again in the future. At least I managed to unlock a new mote of power, even though I hadn't decided yet what I wanted to acquire with it. There were a lot more options available now compared to when I first got my powers, and I had been rather cavalier with some of choices in the past.

I had a couple of hours to kill after returning home from school. Normally I'd get another workout session done in the afternoon, but I was exhausted from the frequent patrols and extra hospital healing sessions that I was doing. Besides, it's not like I really needed it. Three months of healthy eating and a strict exercise regime had left me in the best shape of my life. I couldn't guzzle down the amount of junk food that Vicky could, but I think blowing off one exercise session would be alright.

Before I could settle on how to spend my free time, I heard a thump from upstairs. Hmm, that was weird.

"Dad, are you home?" I called out. He shouldn't be home this early. I grabbed a taser from one of my purses and started heading towards the stairs. I didn't want to reveal my powers unnecessarily, but if the taser wasn't enough, I won't hesitate to energy blast someone in the face.

"Taylor..." A quiet feminine voice called out to me from upstairs.

Lily was lying on my bed. Her face was paler than usual, and she looked sweaty and clammy. She was wearing an oversized hoodie, and she was holding her left arm close to her body. "Hey Taylor," she greeted me weakly. "I could use a little bit of help here."

Lily lifted up her hoodie, revealing a large bloodied and clumsily applied bandage. Yikes.


.

Author's Note

Well, that's the end of Arc 4. Up next before Arc 5 starts: Mistblade Gaiden, Vicky's Birthday Bash, and a PHO interlude. Also, taking suggestions on what Taylor's next spell should be. Thanks everyone for the reviews and notes about follow vs. favs.

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Taylor's Current Abilities

Cantrips (unlimited castings)

· Mage Hand – creates a spectral hand that allows Taylor to manipulate objects within 30 feet of her, or allow her to pick up an item up to 10 pounds in weight.

· Minor Illusion – allows Taylor to create an illusory sound or image. Sounds can be any voice or sound that Taylor can imagine, and the volume can range from a whisper to a scream. Visual illusions must be no larger than a 5 foot cube, and can't create smell, light, sound, or other sensory effects.

· Prestidigitation – a collection of minor magical tricks, such as creating a minor sensory affect, cleaning or soiling a small object, lighting or snuffing out a small fire, creating various small illusions, and other small effects.

· Eldritch Blast – fires beams of intense energy at a target. The spell creates more beams at higher levels.

Level 1 Spells

· Thunderwave – generates a thunderous blast of force up to fifteen feet out in front of Taylor, hurting and knocking back everything in her path. Generates a thunderous boom audible up to 300 feet away.

· Sleep – causes people or creatures in an area up to 120 feet away from Taylor to fall asleep. Can be resisted by those of strong fortitude and constitution.

· Cure Wounds – a person or creature that Taylor touches rapidly regenerates towards a healthy state.

· Speak with Animals – Taylor temporarily gains the ability to communicate with animals.

Level 2 Spells

· Invisibility – Taylor or a person that Taylor touches becomes invisible for up to an hour. The effect ends when an offensive action is taken. Requires concentration.

· Lesser Restoration – a person that Taylor touches is cured of one disease or ailment.

· Detect Thoughts– lets Taylor read the surface thoughts of people around her? Or is it just a form of super-effective cold reading? Taylor isn't sure. Requires concentration.

Level 3 Spells

· Major Image – allows Taylor to create an incredibly realistic illusion no larger than a 20 foot cube. These illusions can move and seem completely real, and even sounds and smells real. These illusions can even generate heat or chill, but not enough to cause bodily harm. Physical interaction with the illusion reveals it to be just an illusion though. Requires concentration.

· Fly – Taylor or a person Taylor touches gains the ability to fly for a short duration. Requires concentration.

Level 4 Spells

· Polymorph – allows Taylor to shapechange another creature or herself into a new animal form. Unwilling creatures can resist the change if their mental fortitude is strong enough.

Other Abilities

· Song of Rest – Taylor can imbue her voice with her power, and people who are resting while listening to her sing regain health more quickly than normal.

· Countercharm – Taylor can use musical notes or words of power to disrupt mind-influencing effects.